IBLCE^® is again out and about! See how we’ve been promoting the IBCLC^® and advocating for lactation care around the world.

IBLCE Board Chair Mona Sakr (2022-23) presented at the 4^th World Breastfeeding Conference hosted by the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) Arab World in Cairo, Egypt in March. Sakr, originally from Alexandria, Egypt, gave an extremely well-received presentation to several hundred attendees from countries throughout the region including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and, of course, Egypt, entitled ‘IBLCE and Affiliates: A Global Force in Professional Lactation’. IBLCE Coordinator May Mattar and CEO Sara Blair Lake networked and exhibited at the conference as well. The conference included a moving ceremony recognising professionals who earned the IBCLC over the preceding several years with many wearing white hijabs with Dr. Sakr presenting each with an IBCLC pin recognising their achievement.

Mona Sakr presents at the 4th World Breastfeeding Conference in May 2023.

Recently certified IBCLCs are recognised and received a pin from the IBLCE Chair.

May Mattar shares IBCLC certification/recertification information.

Mona Sakr represented IBLCE at the 8th Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM)/European Association of Breastfeeding Medicine (EABM) European Regional Conference in Split, Croatia in May 2023. The conference featured speakers from over 20 countries around the world on a variety of breastfeeding and lactation care topics. It was an excellent forum to share IBLCE’s Mission and Vision with the approximately 250 physicians and other medical professionals in attendance.

This year’s Care Award recipients have been announced. This successful award season has yielded over 110 hospital applications and over 40 community applications. This award, a joint initiative of IBLCE and the independent professional association ILCA, declares to awardees’ communities that their facilities recognise the important role that IBCLCs play in promoting, protecting, and supporting breastfeeding!

Visit the IBCLC Care Directory to see which Hospital-Based Facilities and Community-Based Agencies are benefiting from the IBCLC Care Award programme!

Great thanks to initiative co-leaders, Paula Oliveira and Decalie Brown, and the team of dedicated volunteers who reviewed the many Care Award applications submitted from around the globe!



Paula Oliveira & Decalie Brown

Tracey Foster

Margaret Furnari

Moina Mitchell

Becky Pockyl

Nancy Ramirez

Maureen Gilbert Thibault 

IBLCE is delighted to announce its Board Officers for 2023-24! Pursuant to the IBLCE Bylaws, Brooke Gilliam, BSN, RN, IBCLC, of North Carolina, USA, has transitioned from the Chair-Elect into the role of Chair of the Board of Directors.

Bayyinah Muhammad, MSN, CNM, WHNP-BC, IBCLC, most recently of Washington, DC, USA, was elected by the Board as Chair-Elect for the organisation and will rotate into the position of Chair after a one-year term in her new role. Public Member Kristi Salisbury, CDM, CFPP, RD, of Minnesota, USA, with a wealth of both volunteer leadership and business experience, was reelected to serve as IBLCE’s Treasurer, and Agnes Kamau, MA, MFT of Nairobi, Kenya was reelected as Senior Board Member. 

Bayyinah Muhammad, Chair-Elect

Kristi Salisbury, Public Member

Agnes Kamau, Senior Board Member

Great thanks to Mona Sakr, MBBS, MSc, IBCLC, of North Carolina, USA and previously of Alexandria, Egypt and the UAE who has concluded a successful year as IBLCE Chair and now transitions into the role of Immediate Past Chair.

Tremendous thanks are also due to Annabelle Mackenzie, MA (Cantab), IBCLC who completed her term as Immediate Past Chair and Jennifer Day, IBCLC, CBE who advanced the organisation during her tenure on the IBLCE Board.

IBLCE deeply appreciates each and every one of these individuals for their leadership!

For more information on the IBLCE Board, visit the IBLCE website.

As previously announced by IBLCE in prior Briefings, the current approved provider programme for CERPs is under review and revision, and this will continue through 2024 inclusive of a period of public comment. The goal of the review is to evaluate the programme in a comprehensive manner inclusive of WHO Code considerations as well as to streamline the process. More information will be shared on the IBLCE website as it becomes available: https://iblce.org/resources/cerp-providers/

It is with great sadness that IBLCE shares news of the passing of two former staff members, both highly dedicated and tremendous breastfeeding advocates. Anna Utter, former Regional Director for the Americas & Israel and later Director of Special Projects for the IBLCE International Office, died in May 2023. Anna held the IBCLC for many years and actively participated in La Leche League. She served as a key leader of the organisation during a challenging time in the organisation’s history after the premature death of JoAnne Scott, the founding Executive Director of IBLCE. Anna played a key role in the organisation, facilitating growth in the Americas and Israel (AMS) as well as the pilot of computer-based testing (CBT) and representing IBLCE at the United States Breastfeeding Committee. IBLCE and its affiliates are grateful for Anna’s many accomplishments and her dedication to the organisation. Former IBLCE legal counsel Priscilla Bornmann, long-time and now retired IBLCE staff member Donna Moore, and CEO Sara Blair Lake represented IBLCE and paid their respects to Anna’s family at her funeral in June.

It is with great regret that IBLCE reports the passing of former Certification Associate Sharla Courtell. Sharla served with IBLCE tirelessly for 20 years, retiring formally from the organisation in late 2014 and continuing to do project-based work into 2015. Sharla volunteered with JoAnne Scott in La Leche League in Northern Virginia and joined IBLCE in 1994. If you earned your IBCLC or recertified in the Americas or Israel in the mid-1990s through 2014, you probably spoke or corresponded with Sharla. With her friendly manner and desire to help all those whom she encountered, Sharla is greatly missed.

Both Sharla and Anna played pivotal roles in the growth and stability of the organisation for many years. IBLCE, IBCLCs, and breastfeeding families throughout the world are grateful for their dedication and for making the world a better place.

Does IBLCE have your current email and address on file? Log into IBLCE’s online credential management system to check your contact information here. (Also, learn how to update your profile here!)

IBLCE and the Global Centre for Lactation Training (GCLT) ^TM are now on LinkedIn! We invite you to follow us to stay up-to-date on the latest news. Join us here:

You can also find us here: 

IBLCE • www.iblce.org • Contact

Commission and IBCLC News

Dr. Janvier Rwamwejo Joins the IBCLC Commission

The IBCLC Commission is pleased to welcome Janvier Rwamwejo, MD, MSPH, IBCLC as its newest Commissioner, elected to fill a vacancy on the Commission for a one-year term through October 2024. Dr. Rwamwejo, hailing from Kigali, Rwanda, holds an MD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and has a background in public health research. He is also a member of the International Advisory Board and Rwandan National Coordinator of the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) programme. He earned his MD from the University of Western Brittany in France and his MSPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the United States.



More information about the IBCLC Commission is available online at https://ibclc-commission.org/about/ibclc-commission/  

New Feature! Pathway Two Programme Profile

Of the three pathways to the IBCLC, Pathway Two, or academic lactation programmes, provides a comprehensive route to eligibility for the IBCLC professional certification examination and credential.

There are currently nine institutions of higher learning which provide a streamlined route to eligibility for the IBCLC.

In this edition of the Briefing, we profile the Pathway Two programme at North Carolina A & T State University. 

One of just two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) offering a Pathway Two programme to the IBCLC, the University has a rich and storied history. Founded in 1891, speakers and visitors to the University have included numerous US Presidents and First Ladies including Eleanor Roosevelt, Barack and Michelle Obama, and most recently the forty-sixth President, Joseph Biden.



The Pathway Two programme includes a community-based outpatient lactation clinic, and each cohort of students creates and instructs a prenatal lactation education class for the community. Led by Janiya Mitnaul Williams, MA, IBCLC as the Program Director and Clinical Instructor with Emma Makin Burress, MPH, IBCLC serving as Clinical Coordinator, the programme has graduated three cohorts of students since 2021 and graduates have worked to increase nursing rates for underrepresented individuals in the local community. Moreover, graduates have gone on to enroll in Nursing, MPH, MHA, and DNP programmes at a number of top-tier universities.

Janiya Mitnaul Williams

Emma Makin Burress

Profiles of other Pathway Two Programmes providing academic options to those interested in pursuing careers in lactation will be published periodically in future editions of this Briefing.

IBCLC Commission • www.ibclc-commission.org • Contact

Monetary Investment for Lactation Consultant Certification^® (MILCC^®) News

Spotlight on MILCC Scholarships

The Monetary Investment for Lactation Consultant Certification (MILCC) organisation continues to have a great impact on the IBCLC community—both those seeking to earn the IBCLC and those currently holding the credential. This year MILCC has awarded fifteen scholarships to individuals in six different countries. MILCC continues to be a major force in support of lactation!

A supporting affiliate of IBLCE, MILCC’s vision is ‘That every family worldwide has access to culturally appropriate care from an IBCLC’, with a mission ‘To remove financial barriers to accessing the IBCLC credential by fostering inclusiveness, promoting philanthropy, and increasing public awareness of the value of the IBCLC.’

MILCC provides a variety of scholarships to aspiring or current IBCLCs in support of IBLCE, including:

• The MILCC General Scholarship: Awarded to 9 recipients in Egypt, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and the United States;
• The JoAnne W. Scott Scholarship: Awarded to 1 recipient in Bangladesh;
• The Dr. Clifton J. Kenon, Jr. Health Equity Scholarship: Awarded to 5 recipients from the United States;
• The Emerging Leader in Lactation (ELL) Scholarship: Awarded to 6 recipients from Tunisia and the United States;
• The Global Humanitarian Scholarship: Awarded to its first recipient, from Ukraine.

MILCC is Making a Difference!

'Thank you for this a great opportunity! In 2022, with the help of MILCC, I sat the examination, became certified, and I am now working as an IBCLC! With MILCC, more IBCLCs can reach more families, to provide support, counseling and accompany them with breastfeeding while respecting the culture of each family.'

-- Nydiacamila Suarez Ahumada, IBCLC, and 2022 MILCC General Scholarship Recipient, Colombia

MILCC • www.milcc.org • milcc@iblce.org

Global Centre for Lactation Training (GCLT) ^TM News

Final Opportunity!

Complimentary Webinar Until November 19, 2023:

Work, Milk, and Magic: Insights on the Realities of Working as an IBCLC while Breastfeeding (1 L-CERP)

Join us for a captivating panel discussion as experienced International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) who are also working parents delve into their personal journeys as they pursue their profession. Discover their navigation strategies, and the intriguing juxtaposition of reality and their initial expectations of life with a breastfeeding baby. Don’t miss this informative and enlightening discussion!

Panellists:

Rachel Dean, MPH, RDN, LDN, IBCLC

Regional Lactation Trainer

Owner of Harmony Nutrition & Lactation

Executive Director, Queen City Cocoa BEANS

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Joke Muyldermans, RM, MSc, IBCLC

Midwife, Lactation Consultant

ELACTA Board member

Researcher, University of Brussels

Hoeilaart, Belgium

Loretta Anderson, RN, RM, IBCLC, PhD

Registered Nurse, Registered Midwife, Lactation Consultant

Midwifery Lecturer, Researcher

Morayfield, Queensland, Australia

Global Centre for Lactation Training (GCLT) ^TM • www.gclt.org • info@gclt.org

This briefing is being translated and will be disseminated in all IBLCE languages in the immediate future.